This invention relates in general to floor cleaning equipment and in particular to a wet/dry vacuum cleaner having an improved housing structure which reduces the amount of ambient noise generated thereby.
Vacuum cleaners are well known devices which are employed for cleaning floor surfaces. Such vacuum cleaners create a suction effect which can draw air, water, and other materials into a canister for collection and subsequent disposal. This is typically accomplished by an electric motor which rotatably drives a fan. Rotation of the fan by the motor causes air to move through a housing. Within the housing, dirt, water, and other materials are separated from the air flow and deposited in the canister. Many different vacuum cleaner structures are known in the art.
One common drawback to known vacuum cleaners is that they are somewhat noisy. High noise levels have been found to be bothersome to those using the vacuum cleaners. Some known vacuum cleaners are provided with structures which reduce the amount of noise generated thereby. Typically, this has been accomplished by reducing the velocity of the air exiting from the housing or by passing the air through a tortuous path within the housing. However, known noise reducing structures in vacuum cleaners have been relatively complicated, requiring additional expense in parts or assembly labor. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved housing structure for a vacuum cleaner which reduces the amount of ambient noise generated thereby, yet which is relatively simple and inexpensive in construction.